Okay, So I have some vested interest....

Monday morning I go into our local Post Office to pick up mail for work. Amongst my mail is a piece that is addressed to someone else, which normally I would place in the box in the lobby marked "Misdirected Mail." I walk to the Lobby, and find that the sign is missing. So I wait a couple of minutes until the doors are unlocked, and present my misdirected mail to one of the postal employees and inform her that the sign appears to be missing.

This morning I go into the post office.


I am unsure as to what I am seeing, so I step out, and take a picture.

After considering things for a moment, (and here you must note that I work in one of the two stores in town that rent movies,) I start to wonder.

Has the USPS started taking corporate sponsorship? Will I see Sears catalog recycling bins, Blockbuster return drops, or a nationally sponsored computer recycling mailing point available in my local post office soon? We already have pile of advertising in our 'local' paper, almost all of which is for products and services that are, in local terms 'off-island.' (which are literal terms as well...)The USPS is a wonderful system, don't get me wrong. I am amazed with the sheer volume of material they handle, and have always been pleased with the service. This 'addition' if that is what is is, does not serve my business well.

1. It advertises my off island competitor within my own community
2. It presents more opportunities for phone calls like "I' m sorry, I must have dropped those in the box with my netflix movies..." or calls from the post office "we appear to have several of you movies here... could you pick them up?" We already trade movies with our competition, as people inadvertently drop off our movies at their store and vice versa.
3. It begs the question, "Are we taking corporate sponsorship for our government services?" Will we have a McDonalds backed Air Force? The IRS backed by PepsiCo? The Masterfoods Secret Service? Social Security Administration by Microsoft?

Anyuway, that's my rant for the morning...

have a great day.
mjp
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Check this (to me...)

http://www.mtbakerbsa.org/districts/island/misc/bortraining.htm